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Threats to the ability of the U.S.-flag fleet to carry out its critical role in time of war are not being adequately addressed in Washington, Gen. Darren McDew, commander of U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), told members of Congress on April 7.

USTRANSCOM is responsible for the global movement of combat units and sustainment cargo for America’s armed forces.

During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, McDew warned that our country’s ability to respond to a future crisis is being undercut by “erosion” of the mariner pool, aging-out of the U.S. fleet and the drop in the amount of peacetime cargo.

He told members of the committee that 90 percent of the nation’s ability to go to war depends on the commercial transportation industry.

“I wish every American citizen could understand how much we rely on the nation’s truck drivers, conductors, commercial pilots, mariners, stevedores and much much more to meet national defense requirements,” he said.

“In 1950, there were 1,288 internationally trading U.S.-flag ships,” he testified. “Today, we’re down to 81.”

Besides underlining the need to continue funding the Maritime Security Program (MSP) at its full authorized level of $300 million, McDew called for more progress in the area of cyber warfare.

Today, in every war game and military exercise, he testified, planners assume “some level of cyber degradation” as a likely scenario.

McDew, like other maritime industry experts, also says we can no longer expect that future sealift support will be provided in uncontested environments.

NEW YORK MARINE SOCIETY SALUTES ED HANLEY OF MAERSK

Members of the Marine Society of the City of New York on Monday honored Maersk Line Ltd. Vice President for Labor Relations and Marine Standards Ed Hanley.

It was the 248th annual dinner of the society, whose members—representatives of seafaring and longshore labor unions, maritime companies and maritime-related government agencies—mentor and motivate young people intent on pursuing careers in the industry.

During the event, the society distributed $100,000 in scholarships to individual cadets, and awarded grants to the maritime academies.

Hanley spoke of the critical role played by the men and women of the American Merchant Marine in assuring U.S. prosperity and national security.

“MLL employs 100 percent union crews and always has,” he said, adding that the company “is committed to providing a dignified and protected work environment” with competitive wages and benefits.

He called for Congressional action to shore up the U.S.-flag fleet, saying that the U.S. Merchant Marine “is largely forgotten during peacetime.”

“The motto is ‘In Peace and War,’” he said. The merchant marine “must be funded appropriately during times of peace.”

“We can do better. And we must do better,” he said, noting that today only 2 percent of our country’s international cargo is carried on U.S.-flag ships.

He said MLL “has the assets and is ready to flag them in” if Congress takes the “bold legislative action” needed to buttress the industry.

FOLLOWING CASE OF GPS INTERFERENCE ABOARD ALLIANCE FAIRFAX: RECOMMENDATIONS TO OTHERS ON STEPS TO TAKE

As reported in last week’s edition of The Wheelhouse Weekly, three ships operated by Maersk Line Ltd. (MLL) experienced loss of GPS signal in the vicinity of Port Said and the Suez Canal at the end of March and the beginning of April.

The incidents, which involved the MM&P-crewed MAERSK KINLOSS, MAERSK COLUMBUS and ALLIANCE FAIRFAX, prompted U.S. maritime authorities to issue an industry alert last week.

“With the jamming of GPS signals, all the bridge equipment was in alarm mode which was the most distracting aspect of the loss of the GPS,” he said.

“Radar presentation failed due to GPS speed input for the display. ECDIS had ship position jumping all over the screen. I had ship’s speed at times in excess of 80 kts.”

“We were anchoring at night which made it difficult to determine if all ships in the anchorage were actually anchored. As I was turning into my anchorage, the vessel abeam of me just got underway which was of great concern, but we were able to communicate and had no danger of collision.”

“My anchorage was in the middle of six ships at anchor which made it simple to determine my anchorage visually.”

“My recommendation would be to put the speed input to radars to log speed versus GPS speed until this problem gets rectified. With the speed input from the log for the radar, the presentation would remain steady and not add to the confusion with the other sensors failing.”

Captain Aasheim included a report submitted by Second Mate Erik Stark which details the problems encountered and recommendations. That report follows.

Second Mate’s Report and Recommendations:

— GPS Outages at Port Said, Egypt – 06-07 April 2018

(All Times Local – ZD-2)

On April 06, 2018, at 1615, in Lat 32-18.1N, Long 030-25.9E, while en route to Port Said, Egypt, the C/M reported a loss of GPS signal and position data. This caused an alarm in one of the two Furuno GPS receivers. The signal interruptions and alarms were sporadic, and lasted for approximately one half-hour.

At 2300, @ Lat 31-27N, Long 032-18E, while approaching the Port Said South Anchorages, the GPS signal was jammed, lost, or was otherwise altered. This caused audible and visual alarms in the following equipment, all of which receive GPS position input: both GPS receivers; the 10cm and 3cm radars; the AIS transceiver; both ECDIS display units; both Sat C transceivers; the GMDSS MF/HF transceiver; both VHF DSC radios; the VDR.

Because the GPS signal interruptions “pulsed” rapidly (lost, regained and lost again within seconds), every alarm that was silenced would soon sound again. Having over a dozen alarms sounding at the same time was very distracting. The radar and ECDIS displays were distorted as the ship’s position jumped around. Our own ship’s speed vector increased up to 80 kts. Other vessels’ AIS positions were also affected, so their AIS positions and vectors jumped all over the radar and ECDIS displays.

Captain Aasheim anchored the FAIRFAX in the Southern Anchorage (Anchorage C-5; Lat 31-22.2N, Long 032-19.4E) at 2336, by visual means only, with the alarms sounding non-stop in the background.

Separate from the GPS problem, but compounding it in Port Said, was the VHF radio chatter. Added to the sound of alarms were calls from the Agent and Port Control, while anchoring.

What is also new is the strength of the Israeli Navy’s VHF Broadcasts and calls on channel 16.

These calls were heard from over 300 miles WNW of Port Said, and continuously while at anchor in Port Said. The following call was repeated every 30 seconds to 1 minute on VHF 16:

When nobody answers (which was the norm), the broadcast call would be repeated, non-stop. This was worse than the normal “white-noise” chatter experienced in the area. This enhanced the distraction of the GPS alarms.

I took over the bridge watch at 2345, while at anchor. The non-stop alarms continued for 45 minutes, until 0030 LT, when the GPS signal was restored, and the alarms could be silenced.

However, I watched as several other vessels’ GPS signals were sporadically altered during the remainder of my watch. The AIS display overlay would show anchored vessels as moving all over the place, with incredible vectors, while they physically remained in their anchored positions.

The GPS signals were interrupted once more, for about 20 seconds, while the FAIRFAX was underway and approaching the Suez Canal entrance, during the early morning of 07 April. That outage coincided with a brief period of reduced visibility, in a place where many of the buoys were off-station, and the low banks did not show well on the radar display.

Recommendations:

— When the GPS receivers begin to lose signal reception, place the ECDIS’s Position Sensors in DR mode, both Primary and Secondary. Also, change the Speed over Ground sensor from GPS to DLOG (Log Speed). DR mode is better than GPS mode, when the ENC chart jumps all over the screen. Also, if the speed over ground is not changed from GPS to DLOG, the DR position will degrade quickly from faulty speed input (such as the 80 knot own-ship GPS speed that we experienced).

— If in DR mode, frequent position updates are necessary. From experience, especially at night, the Port Said Breakwater tip is the most easily located amongst all of the other radar clutter. Also, a radar range and bearing can be inserted quickly on the ECDIS, when compared to entering multiple LOP’s.

— Put the radars in DR mode, and make sure that the speed is water sourced (Log Speed). Be sure to disable AIS radar overlay. The other vessels’ AIS data is also being compromised, so the faulty AIS information only adds to the confusion.

— Consider shutting off the AIS completely. If own-ship data is compromised, it is not helping other vessels. Shutting down the AIS while maneuvering towards the anchorage also eliminates a source of alarm noise. It can be powered back on after anchoring.

— Consider shutting off other sources of alarm noise, such as the GMDSS console. When maneuvering in traffic off of Port Said, the GMDSS contributes nothing but alarms, when the GPS signal is down. The console can be powered up after anchoring.

— Consider having an extra Mate on the bridge, with a Deck Cadet (if available), just for the purpose of silencing alarms, updating the ECDIS position manually and handling radio communications.

— If the schedule permits, anchor early at Port Said, during daylight hours. With daylight, maneuvering by visual means is easier, especially if dealing with the distraction of GPS alarms. It is easier to see which vessels are moving, or not moving, during daylight hours.

— As for the recent increase in the strength of the Israeli Navy’s VHF transmissions, is there any way that Maersk Lines (through appropriate channels) can communicate with the Israeli government? Do they realize that their radio transmissions now penetrate over 400 miles into the Mediterranean Sea, from their coast? I understand their need for security, but non-stop cold-calls to unidentified vessels is polluting/dominating VHF CH 16. There is no reason that those transmissions should be dominating the radio traffic in Port Said, Egypt, or 400 miles offshore.

— The biggest question remains: Is anyone, military or otherwise, attempting to locate the source of the GPS jamming? In the U.S., the FCC is very good at locating the sources of illegal radio transmissions through radio direction finding.

COAST GUARD ALERT ON ABANDONED BIKES ABOARD WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES

After authorities in Seattle launched a “person overboard” search because of a ride-share bike abandoned on a Washington State ferry, the Coast Guard issued a statement asking bicyclists to leave them at the pier when they embark.

The Coast Guard said it had dealt with 12 incidents of bicycles being left behind on Washington State ferries in the course of the past 18 months.

When a passenger leaves their bicycle on a ferry, it’s the duty of Coast Guard and ferry personnel to treat it as a potential distress situation until the bicyclist can be confirmed safe.

Sometimes it can take several hours to verify that no one is in danger, and the resulting search can end up wasting tax-payer dollars and impact the response to an actual emergency situation.

The Coast Guard said the most recent incident had entailed a helicopter search and cost taxpayers $17,000.

“The Washington State Ferry system is a valuable local resource that provides a great benefit to the area by facilitating transportation and reducing commuter congestion,” said Captain Linda Sturgis, commander, Sector Puget Sound.

“When bicycles are left behind on a ferry, the Coast Guard assumes the worst and searches in the event the bicycle operator may have fallen overboard. We join the Washington State Ferry system in requesting that bike-share users not bring rented bicycles on board the ferries, instead of leaving the bicycle at the pier and boarding as a walk-on passenger. For all passengers, we request you leave with the bikes you bring onboard.”

“Ride-share bicycles present an enhanced concern because they are transferred fluidly.

Passengers may forget they rode aboard and depart hastily on foot. Due to the increased frequency of ride-share bikes left aboard, the Coast Guard and Washington State Ferries strongly encourage passengers to leave ride-share bikes at the pier and board as walk-on the ferry,” the Coast Guard said.

PROTECT YOUR JOB: TAKE ACTION NOW!

Government agencies fail to enforce cargo preference which gives too many U.S.-taxpayer financed commodities to foreign-flagged ships. We need more elected officials who support American jobs and the American fleet.

We need legislators in Congress who understand the situation and who will work with us to strengthen cargo preference.

We need supporters in Congress to fight short-sighted proposals in the Administration’s budget that weaken cargo preference.

But to do so, we need the support of every MM&P member, pensioner and employee!

Please help us elect pro-maritime legislators to Congress. Stand with your union brothers and sisters!

Support the MM&P Political Contribution Fund by making a contribution to the PCF today.

Go to bridgedeck.org and click on the “Donate Now” button in the top right-hand corner of the page.

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